Criminal

Justice

Designed to develop and sharpen skills appropriate to beginning or continuing practitioners in the criminal justice system. Professionals in the fields of law enforcement, corrections, or the court system can utilize this degree to seek career advancement or personal enrichment. The program consists of 10 courses for a total of 30 credits.

Core Requirements

Elective Credits Required

Capstone Course

• Program Detail
• Program Home

• Provide students with an understanding of the philosophical, political, and ideological basis for the criminalization of certain behaviors and the enforcement of those behaviors as unlawful.
• Educate students about various perspectives and approaches to explaining and understanding criminal and deviant behaviors and prompt them to critique various explanatory theories as to their scientific merit and socio-cultural origins.
• Encourage students to consider current challenges and predicaments inherent in the various components of the American criminal justice system and stimulate their critical thinking skills in generating possible resolutions to these conflicts.
• Orient students to the ethical dilemmas that may be confronted by criminal justice practitioners and heighten their awareness of the different forms corruption and abuses of power may take.
• Provide students with a cross-cultural perspective on criminality and criminal justice by teaching them about law and social control in different societies and at different points in American history.
• Afford students the opportunity to sharpen their writing, research, and communication skills by requiring them to conduct and present an independent scholarly research project which will integrate theory and practice.